Forevermore
by SlayerInverse
Summary: *Chapter 3 is here. T & R fans must read the 2nd chapter!!* Tragedy has struck. Lost and confused, the inhabitants of the Misaki shrine are working hard to fix their lives back. But love, friendship, and devotion is not enough. Will innocent die for an un
1. Average beginning

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Forevermore

Note I sadly do not own these characters. They are the copyrighted property of the animators and company. Anyway, please read and review! :)

~

Lost. I am so lost. Kiyone Makibi sat on the roof of her and her partner Mihoshi's apartment building in the city of Tokyo. Her bare feet dangled from the roof top, and her long blue hair flowed in the gentle, evening breeze. She sat thinking, enjoying the peace and quiet as the golden sun sank slowly under the sapphire Tokyo Bay.

Her thoughts wandered, yet constantly went back to the time when she met Tenchi, when she had been man-hunting the space pirate Ryoko. That was an interesting experience, especially when Kiyone found out Mihoshi had been living in the same household, in the company of the universe's most wanted criminal.

Kiyone frowned. Mihoshi could be a real thick-skull at times. _Most times,_ Kiyone reflected. But they had made it through thick and thin, and found a home on Earth, patrolling the sector for prates and keeping the peace in space, even if it meant chasing down idiot speeders on the Intergalactic Highway. That was where her life had gotten her, where everything she ever did right was placed, on a far off planet acting as a Galaxy Police Patrol Officer.

Kiyone sighed, and looked out at the Bay. Gentle sailboats crossed the sleek water, seeming to float on crimson, golden, and blue light as the setting sun sank almost fully beyond the horizon, the darkness of night trailing behind.

A noisy patter of feet sounded and Kiyone's thoughts sped away. The stairwell door swung open and the blonde haired Mihoshi tripped on the top stair and fell flat on her face on the cool concrete. Kiyone turned to look at her flattened partner. She sighed and swung her feet off the ledge of the building and walked over. "Mihoshi, what now?" she asked, trying to remain calm.

Mihoshi looked up from the floor. "Um, Miss Ayeka is on the phone, she wants to talk to you," she replied in a distressed voice, her voice creaking as she strained to stand up.

Not paying attention anymore, Kiyone trotted past Mihoshi, and hurried down the stairs, knowing how impatient the Jahrei Crown Princess was. She opened the door to her apartment and picked up the phone lying on its side on the desk. "What can I do for you, Princess Ayeka?"

Ayeka's voice sounded strangled when she answered. "Officer Kiyone, please, you must come stop this mad woman Ryoko. She's trying to kidnap Tenchi from me!"

Kiyone rolled her eyes. "Miss Ayeka, I've informed you before, you must not involve the Galaxy Police in your and Ryoko's house hold problems."

"But this is no house hold problem, Kiyone, Ryoko is a criminal, you should arrest her at once!"

Kiyone put her hand over the receiver and sighed, and then took her hand regretfully back off. "Princess, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't help you at this time."

"But-"

"I'm sorry, but until there is a true criminal act-"

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"No, o-of course n-not. I just can't be involved in a small-"

"Miss Kiyone-"

Kiyone couldn't stand it anymore. Why was she even talking to the spoiled princess anyway, all she does is complain? "Princess Ayeka, please do not involve the Galaxy Police in your selfish, jealous, and downright stupid disputes!" Before Ayeka could reply, Kiyone hung up the phone.

She sighed heavily. _That was mean,_ she thought, _I shouldn't have done that._ This, however, was a common thing amongst the inhabitants of the Misaki house. Most days, Tenchi was away at school in Tokyo, and Ryoko was out causing trouble, but it looked like today must have been a long weekend so Tenchi was at home, and obviously Ryoko knew about it so she was there as well. For a moment Kiyone thought of blocking the Misaki number so she wouldn't be pestered again while Tenchi was home, she was sure Ayeka would try to call again.

She set down the phone and heard her roommate come in. Mihoshi shut the door, with no accidents so far from the one on the rooftop. She walked past Kiyone and sat on the couch. "What did Miss Ayeka want, Kiyone? I couldn't understand a word she said so I went to get you."

_Thank you **so** much, Mihoshi,_ Kiyone thought as she walked past her. "Nothing. She didn't want anything," was all she said, something that went right over Mihoshi's head, despite Kiyone's bitter tone.

Kiyone went to her room and sat down on her low bed. She felt bad for what she did to Ayeka. But what was she supposed to do? These "fights" were not uncommon amongst Ayeka and Ryoko and at the moment Kiyone didn't want to be involved, even though she considered them friends.

Kiyone wrapped her arms around her legs. _What's wrong with me,_ she asked herself, _am I just paranoid, or just completely lost? _Nothing in Kiyone's life had seemed to work out the way she dreamed it would. All her hard work in the Academy, even being a widely recognized top honor student, had now seemed to be all for nothing. She had moved on, tried to make the best of things, and things were starting to get better, but it was a start, and a slow one at that.

She looked out her window. It was fully dark now, the moon and the stars sparkling like diamonds against the blackness of space. A space she knew well, chasing pirates across the galaxies, with hopes of one day getting promoted to Galaxy Police Headquarters. It never happened, and Kiyone was almost sure it would never happen, with all the screw-ups that had occurred. Life just didn't seem so worth while anymore.

Once again, Kiyone's thoughts were swept away. The phone rang loudly. Between pauses, Kiyone heard loud snores. Mihoshi had obviously fallen asleep on the couch, so there was no chance that she would answer the phone. Kiyone decided just to let it ring, it probably wasn't important, most likely Ayeka or something.

A few moments after the ringing stopped completely, it began to ring again. Kiyone huffed and stormed out of her bedroom. This DEFINITELY had to be Ayeka. The princess couldn't stand it when nobody answered the phone, and she wouldn't be polite enough to leave a message on Kiyone's answering machine. Kiyone rushed over and picked up the phone. "Princess Ayeka, please-"

She was interrupted by a male voice. "Hello, Kiyone? Uh, this is Tenchi."

Kiyone's face flushed and then her cheeks turned bright red. "Oh, uh, Tenchi hi. S-sorry about t-that." She had butterflies in her stomach. _What's wrong with me? Its just Tenchi._

"That's ok," Tenchi replied cheerfully.

_Enough of this,_ Kiyone thought. "What can I do for you Tenchi?"

"Well, I'm at home this weekend, so we plan to have a summer party, and I, and the rest of us, were wondering if you and Mihoshi were free sometime this weekend to come over and hang out with us for a while."

"Um, I guess so."

Tenchi continued. "I understand you are in Tokyo, but if you decide to come over we'd have a wonderful time wit-" his voice sounded as though a computer were talking.

"Tenchi," Kiyone interrupted, "are you reading from a script that Ayeka wrote?"

There was a brief pause. "...........yes."

Kiyone laughed. "Don't worry about it, I think Mihoshi and I can make it, if you have room for us."

"Great. Well, see ya then!" And Tenchi hung up the phone.

Kiyone set down the receiver and turned to see a non-sleeping Mihoshi staring blankly at her. "What?" Kiyone demanded.

"Kiyone, your face is all red!" Mihoshi exclaimed, much to Kiyone's embarrassment and irritation.

Kiyone stormed again past Mihoshi, and just before she slammed her bedroom door, she said quietly, "Goodnight, Mihoshi."

Too late, though, Mihoshi was already snoring.

~

The morning sun gleamed through the curtains in Kiyone's bedroom, spreading a small beam of light across Kiyone's eyelids, disturbing her sleep. She opened her eyes and looked around. She and Mihoshi would have to leave soon in order to get to the Misaki Shrine by mid-day. She crawled out of her bed got dressed and quietly got all her daily chores done quickly. Then she went from her room to wake Mihoshi.

Just as she walked out her wrist com beeped. Kiyone huffed and saw Mihoshi come running out of her room, dressed in uniform. "Kiyone, we got a call!" she cried.

Frustrated, Kiyone snapped, "I know that, Mihoshi."

Once on board their space ship, Jagami, Kiyone reviewed the problem they had to investigate. There was a disturbance of missing ships near the rings of Saturn. Kiyone set the course while her partner fiddled with her cube.

They reached the rings in no time, but there didn't seem like there was anything out of place. And there was no sign of any ships anywhere.

Kiyone was puzzled. Maybe the crook, or crooks, were hiding within the rings. "Mihoshi, I'm going to take us closer to the rings."

There was no response, but Kiyone didn't expect one. As their ship neared the rings Kiyone scanned for signs of metal and life forms. There were none.

Suddenly, however, the ship began to shake violently. Kiyone checked the systems for damage and scanned for the problem. Nothing showed up.

"What's happening?" Mihoshi asked, panicked.

Kiyone shoved the ship into reverse. Maybe to back out of this force would help, but suddenly it grew much stronger. Trying to push Jagami forward, the ship creaked and there were loud cracking and popping sounds, like they were being crushed like an aluminum can from the outside. Jagami stalled, and something exploded in the back, towards the engine. Kiyone yelled at Mihoshi. "Get your space suit on quickly! And get to the second shielded compartment! I'm going to seal the bridge, hopefully so we can escape this mess!" Kiyone desperately tried to seal the bridge, and converted all the oxygen into the two small compartments. But it was too late.

Warning bells rang loudly from the screens in front of the pilots. Kiyone struggled to gain control. Somewhere behind her she heard Mihoshi scream. Dents were being made in the bridge door as the pressure increased. Kiyone was terrified, and she wasn't afraid to admit it. Was she going to die?


	2. New discoveries

Note: here's where the story gets good, trust me, you T & R fans will like it a lot. Enjoy and please review!

Chapter 2

_What is this? Am I dead? _Kiyone was surrounded in a thick mist, a cool breeze whipping around her. She looked in circles, but there seemed to be no where to turn to. The last thing she remembered was being terrified, Jagami being crushed like an aluminum pop can.

Kiyone was scared. she didn't want to die. Her life wasn't what it should have been, but she didn't want to give up now. She wasn't a quitter, and she didn't plan to start now. A soft sound of water trickling came to her attention.

~

Ryoko stood outside Kiyone's hospital room. She had agreed to stay and see if anything happened while the others went for a brief walk to try to relax. Things were just too stressful. Kiyone was in a deep coma and Mihoshi wasn't to be found when emergency ships arrived at the location they received a distress signal. The bridge had been sealed in two separate places, to secure oxygen for each officer. Only one section was found.

Ryoko sighed. They had been setting up for their summer party when they received to call. Ryoko had never really gotten along well with Kiyone but......well, lets just say she didn't want her to die. Mihoshi had been nice enough as well, although she was what people call a "true blonde". Everyone was devastated at the disappearance of Mihoshi.

The nurse suddenly opened the door. "I think she's about to wake up, Miss," the nurse stated.

Ryoko walked in the door, not caring to wait for the others to come back. She saw the heart meter start to beat strongly again. Kiyone was coming back.

~

The trickling of water began to grow louder in Kiyone's ears. The misty vision she had suddenly blurred, a whitish light appearing before her eyes..

~

Ryoko saw Kiyone's blue eyes open slightly. She stood up from her red chair at the bedside. Kiyone's hand twitched slightly as her eyes fluttered softly open.

~

Kiyone's vision was tremendously blurred. Shadows danced before her eyes between the brightness of white lights. On shadow seemed somewhat familiar, though Kiyone's head swam in such a sea of pain that she couldn't quite place it, nor could she care. She blinked a few times, clearing her sight slightly, and then, giving up, she closed her eyes once again, surrendering to the pain and darkness of her nightmares.

~

The hospital room door opened, and Tenchi Misaki walked in, a sleepless expression on his face. Ryoko looked up from where she stood, and then sat down in her chair. Ayeka and Sasami stood outside still, talking with one of the nurses. Ryoko looked away, not wanting to meet Tenchi's tired eyes. "How is she?" Tenchi asked.

"Same as when you left," Ryoko replied solemnly, not wanting her beloved Tenchi to feel bad about not being there when Kiyone woke, even though it was only for a moment.

Tenchi sat down beside Ryoko, and placed a gentle hand on hers, resting tensely on the arm rest. Ryoko flinched slightly, and turned to look at Tenchi, mistakenly catching her eyes with his. Her gray blues stared into his deep browns, and for a moment Ryoko could feel his pains, his joys, his loves. But then it was gone, and Ryoko and Tenchi were two again. And that was when Ryoko realized that their faces were incredibly close together, and her cheeks began to burn like hot coals just out of a strong fire. At the same time, Tenchi and Ryoko moved closer together. Tenchi tightened his grip on her hand, clasping it with his warmth, and the was when it happened. Tenchi's lips just grazed Ryoko's, and Ryoko pressed harder.

Images whirling in her closed eyes, Ryoko treasured that moment deep in her heart, which pounded lovingly. Soon the outside world seemed to be forgotten, and she ad Tenchi were alone amongst the star, their love the only feeling around, their hearts beating like one drum, sweetly keeping the beat as time continued forward.

As much as she wished it would never end, the silence was broken, and Ryoko and Tenchi returned to the reality of the hospital room, the dream ending, for the time being.

~

Ayeka walked in the door, apparently not aware of what had just taken place between the two sitting on the bedside chairs. She looked at the silent Kiyone, and sighed. When would this nightmare end? What would be the outcome?

Sasami walked slowly in beside her sister, Ryo-ohki perched quietly on her small shoulder. "Poor Kiyone," she whispered, so quiet only the little cabbit could hear.

~

Hours passed, and there was no change. Ayeka took Sasami back to their rooms, leaving Tenchi and Ryoko alone in the hospital room once more. Tenchi leaned his face on his hand. "What are we supposed to do, Ryoko? Sit here and wait forever? I mean, what if she doesn't wake up at all?"

Ryoko's golden eyes opened from her resting position, and she looked over at Tenchi. "You shouldn't speak like that, Tenchi."

"Well, I'm just being logical, aren't I?" his voice had an icy tone to it, his sleeplessness seeming to catch up with him.

"Tenchi, I-" Ryoko didn't know what to say. What was there to say? He was right, though. What if the brief consciousness Ryoko had seen in Kiyone had been the very last Not even the expert doctors could tell the outcome. Hope was slowly disappearing.

Suddenly Tenchi's com beeped. He pressed the receive button wearily. Washu's face appeared in the glowing light before them. "No sleep yet?" she asked. Not waiting for an answer, she continued. "Well, I reviewed the fractious data copied from Jagami's main computer, and I've come to a conclusion that whatever -or whoever- I should say, attacked the ship was obviously far more powerful than we first suspected." She tossed a pile of papers into the darkness behind her.

Tenchi and Ryoko looked at each other. Now what? Could this be another one of Washu's crazy predictions, or is this real?

Washu cleared her throat. "Are you listening?" Once their eyes were back on her, she continued. "Here's a visual data base I configured up." In place of her image, a 3D Jagami appeared, numbers and computer typing dotting the surrounding areas, indicating things Ryoko found difficult to follow without an explanation.

"Washu, what does this mean?" Ryoko demanded.

Washu's voice was heard in the background of the projection. "It means that, each little areas indicated by the arrows are the specific places Jagami was hit, precise places of weaknesses the ship has."

"Which means........?"

Irritated, Washu snapped, "Which means, Ryoko, that this 'thing' is no illusion, no fluxuation in the extreme of space. No, this 'thing' is **_real,_** it obviously has a mind, a source of data upon which it can decipher the exact spot on which it should hit, or crush, its target, making it virtually defenseless and weakened to the 'thing's' will."

Tenchi spoke up. "So you're saying that this _'thing'_, is alive?"

"Not necessarily _alive,_ Tenchi, but very conscious and aware of its purpose."

Confused looks came from the other end of the receiver. "Tenchi and Ryoko, I am saying that this 'thing' may or may not be living, it may be artificial, but it has a force, a will, that makes it different from the space currents, or pressures in space. Meaning we're dealing with more than accidents and disappearances in the Saturn quadrant, we're dealing with deliberate _murder."_

Ryoko burst out. "Murder? Why would anything pick the farthest reaches of this place to destroy innocent lives?"

Washu's face reappeared in the projection. "Because it is not taking out random people. Rather, it only targets people from that of the planet of Jahrei."


	3. Awake Kiyone!

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Note: This chapter may seem a little slow, but the next one will have TONS of neat stuff in it, I promise! :) Enjoy!

__

Chapter 3: The Awakening

"Planet Jahrei, you've got to be kidding me!?!" Ryoko choked.

"Sounds like the usual to me," groaned Tenchi, leaning back in his chair.

"That it does," Washu said, "but I guess there are a lot of people angry with Jahrei. This particular one, though, is much different, and much more powerful than what we've encountered before." She shrugged. "I'm working on a device that will allow us to get close this thing to observe it, and yet still get back out alive. All you can do from there is rest and wait to see if Kiyone is revived. I'll get back to you as soon as I can with an update."

"Washu, wai-" Ryoko cut herself off. The transmission had ended.

~

The mists swirled and churned once again as Kiyone seemed to be standing in the middle of no where. She looked around, and then collapsed to her knees. What now? Obviously something was preventing her from leaving this place, whether it be pain and exhaustion or something else, she didn't know. And what of the others, her friends? Did they realize she wasn't there? Did they know something had happened to her? And what happened to Mihoshi?

Suddenly, a beam of light shot around Kiyone, twisting and dancing about, spreading through the shadows.

Kiyone stood up. What was this and where did it come from? Then the light darted away, and was gone.

Staring at the direction the light had disappeared to, Kiyone started running that way, knowing she had no where else to go and no other ideas to try. Then she stopped. Before her stretched three different doors. One of the doors, the one to the right, was brightly colored and lights shot through the cracks. The door to the left was pure black, and looked very heavy. But the one in the middle was different. Instead of a door, it was a gate, and the mist around her seemed to be drawn to it. Its large metal bars were held together tightly to each wall, and it was heavily chained together, a large, round, silver lock at its center.

Kiyone studied each door carefully. Could she open them all, and then pick one? Or did she have only one choice? the door to the left, which she named Door #1, looked the most pleasant, but then she heard something from behind the gate in the middle. Voices, from somewhere far away it seemed, whispering, and some even calling out to Kiyone. Familiar, they were. She walked over to the gate, straining to hear clearly. She recognized one of the voices right away. _Tenchi._

~

Tenchi, Ryoko, Ayeka, Sasami, and little Ryo-ohki stood around Kiyone's bed, hoping that she would wake up soon. Kiyone's nurse had said that if they talked to Kiyone, she just might hear them, and just maybe work up her strength to come back to them. With nothing else to try, that is what they did.

"Tenchi, do you really think she can hear us?" asked Sasami, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I think she can," Tenchi replied reassuringly, though he had no way of knowing for sure.

Ayeka leaned forward. "Miss Kiyone, if you can hear me, you must come back to us so you can arrest Ryoko before she-"

"Ayeka, what a lousy thing to say now!" Ryoko snapped as she slapped Ayeka in the arm.

"Well, maybe she just might listen to reason and come back," Ayeka retorted.

"She doesn't listen to you anyway," Ryoko said coolly. 

"Why you-"

"Enough!" That was Tenchi. "If you two are going to fight, then just leave, you're no help to us here."

"But Tenchi-" whined Ayeka.

"No buts, leave if you're going to continue." Tenchi turned his angry eyes from them.

"Well I stopped a long time ago," stated Ryoko, glaring at the princess.

Fuming, Ayeka left the room, and the others continued to coax Kiyone from her deep 

slumber.

~

Hearing most of what was said, Kiyone couldn't resist a small giggle. If she did die, that was the thing she would miss most, her friends of Earth. Sasami, the fantastic cook and sweet little girl with blue pigtails; Her sister, Ayeka, crown princess, just because she was so funny when she was angry; Ryoko, the wild space pirate, and her carefree nature; Washu, and her crazy inventions; And Tenchi, for his kindness and his friendship, something she would treasure most of all. She would miss all of them, just as she had when they were all split apart, but maybe even more so. So if Kiyone died now, no, she wouldn't think of it. She wouldn't give up so easily. She'd make it back to them, no matter what, even if it cost her her very soul.

Kiyone pulled on the gates, searching for a weak link in the chain that bound it shut. There had to be one. In everything that was anything, there was at least one weak point, on spot that would break. Kiyone tugged at the chain, searching, but there seemed to be no flaws, no weakness.

After many tries, Kiyone fell to the ground, too tired to keep going. She knew she had to, but still.......... it seemed impossible. She sighed and stared at the misty floor. There had to be something she could use. If she were anyone else, like Ayeka, she could just use her Jahreian energy, her magic, to destroy the chains that locked her from the ones she loved. But Kiyone had no such power, no such gift. Though Jahreian she was, she seemed to be left out in the rain while everyone else was all warm inside the house. A brick wall that set her aside. But then, Kiyone realized she wasn't alone in that rain behind the wall. Her partner, Mihoshi, was the same. Kiyone smiled, that was probably the one thing they had in common. She also realized that because of her misfortune, she had been even more determined to best everyone else at something, being the best Galaxy Police Officer at the academy. She had risen to the top of her class, no power used, just brains and her own free will. She had triumphed over her fears, and though misfortune had found its way to her again, she tackled it strongly. This had to be one of those misfortunes. Was she going to let it overcome her? Was she going to let herself die because she had given up?

"NEVER!!!!" Kiyone shouted, her voice ringing triumphantly through the mists. Kiyone Makibi was not finished with life yet!


End file.
